Glorified Spirits to behold admire and praise his excellent Greatness and when our enlarged Souls shall fly away to the same blissful Mansions and be admitted to the Comprehensions of an intuitive Beatitude they shall with equal Satisfaction contemplate his Divine Beauty and as skilfully tune their Harps to his Praises as they Let us therefore in the mean time lay our Hand upon our Mouth and with all due Prostration both of Body and Mind adore this great Mystery of Goodness this astonishing Miracle of the Divine Mercy and Condescention which though above the adequate Comprehension of our Reason is put beyond all possibility of Distrust being most amply confirm'd to us by the concurrent and infallible Testimony of God Angels and Men. At his Baptism and Transfiguration you know he was proclaim'd by a Voice from Heaven to be the Beloved Son of God in whom he was well pleas'd And again when he bringeth in his First-begotten into the World he commands that this Exinanition of himself this Obscuration of his Essential Glory under the Veil of Humane Flesh may not diminish one Ray from the Honour of his Divine Majesty but that all the Potentates in Heaven and Earth fall down and worship him Worship him †Psal 97.7 says he all ye Gods all ye Angels and Thrones in Heaven all ye Kings and Judges of the Earth The holy Angels with their usual Chearfulness obey'd the Royal Orders They humbly ador'd the holy Child Jesus and stood ready through all the Periods of his Life to Serve and Worship him St. Peter though he saw him not so clearly as these Blessed Spirits generously confess'd that he was Christ the Son of the Living God and he receiv'd this Confirmation from the Mouth of our Lord himself That Flesh and Blood had not reveal'd it unto him but his Father only which is in Heaven Nay to the everlasting Shame and Confusion of the unbelieving Sons of Men the Devils themselves have ever subscrib'd to this Article They knew and confess'd him here on Earth and still believe and tremble The over-aw'd and trembling ‖ Vid. Suidam in August Oracle plainly confess'd to the Roman Emperour at his Birth that though he appear'd under all the disadvantageous Circumstances of Humanity and Weakness He was the Soveraign Lord and King of the blest Beings above * Luke 8.28 which was afterwards confirm'd by a whole Legion of unclean Spirits when in the Man possess'd they joyntly lifted up their Voices to him with a Jesus thou Son of God Most High But to what purpose I say was all this or why all this Noise and Ostentation had he not been the Son of God in another and more excellent manner than were any of the Sons of Men who either liv'd with him or that went before him had there not been something in it extraordinary that entitled him to so sublime and divine a Privilege Angels Kings and Prophets I confess are frequently call'd the Sons of God They have a larger Participation of his Power or a Communication of more special Grace than is indulg'd and granted to his other Children but yet their Honour and Dignity fall infinitely short of that of Jesus the Son of God For to which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee Or who is he amongst all those exalted Sons of the Most High whom the Father advanc'd to sit at his own Right-hand till his Enemies are made his Footstool David you know was a King and yet he calls him Lord and John the Baptist though he was more than a Prophet was never by Angels Men or Devils acknowledg'd to be properly the Son of God no these are the high Prerogatives of our Lord Christ Jesus to him alone belong the most glorious and supereminent Titles of his own Son his only Son his only Begotten and the Heir of all things So that in all things I say he has the Preheminence But the Scriptures if possible speak plainer yet They not only instruct by natural and necessary Illations and Consequences but also to prevent all Cavils and Disputes are careful in many places to assert this Truth as clearly and as expresly as Words can speak * Joh. 20.28 29. St. Thomas believes and confesseth to him that he is his Lord and God and those who should afterwards inherit the same Faith are pronounced Blessed The Beloved †Joh. 1.1 Disciple is positive that the Word was God and in the Close of his first Epistle speaking of Jesus to shew against an Objection which he rightly foresaw would be afterwards urg'd against the Christians that they might safely worship him without any Fear or Danger of that Idolatry which the Heathens were guilty of in worshipping their Daemons This says he is not Deus factus a made God a God by Office not by Nature but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the True God The Learn'd * 1 Cor. 15.87 1 Tim. 3.16 Rom. 9.5 Apostle adds that this Second Man is the Lord from heaven and God manifested in the Flesh and again most blasphemously if not truly this being that particular Eulogy which is due only to Jehovah the one Supreme Eternal God of Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God over all Blessed for Ever and Ever Nay not to mention the many Repetitions of this most glorious Doxology to him in other places of Scripture This is that good Confession our Lord himself made before his Judge He had all along to the Rage and Amazement of his Enemies held his peace shewing by his Silence that he despis'd all their Accusations as certain and apparent Calumnies But no sooner is urg'd to determine this Point but he opens his Mouth and decides the matter I adjure thee by the living God * Mat. 26.63 64. says the High-Priest that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God Jesus after their modest way of Affirmation saith unto him Thou hast said Or as St. Mark more positively Jesus said I am 'T is certain the High-Priest understood him not in that Vulgar Sense wherein Great and Righteous Persons Kings and Prophets are call'd the Sons of God but that he affirm'd himself to be so in the Literal Proper and Natural Signification of the words For otherwise he could not upon the account of this Confession have charg'd him with Blasphemy nor consequently the Council have voted him to be guilty of Death Thus too in the Fifth of St. John he tells the Jews plainly that God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his own Father making himself thereby as they rightly concluded to be Equal with God And in another Conference with them in the Tenth of that Evangelist He not only owns himself to be the Christ and the Son of God in the most proper sence but adds farther that He and his Father are One One not in Will only but in Essence Glory Honour and Power I am sure the Jews understood him
Eloquence taken up by Orators in expressing their own and moving the affections of others but never us'd by any as a Form of Prayer or a Mode of addressing their Devotions to the Deceas'd But we need not seek far for the Sence of Antiquity in this Matter The Fathers have sufficiently declar'd their Opinion in their Controversie with the Arians These Hereticks divested the Blessed Jesus of his Divinity diminish'd and degraded him into a mere Creature and yet held it lawful to pay him Religious Worship This tho' the Arians declar'd they worship'd him only with an inferiour degree of Worship parallel to what our Adversaries now call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or that Degree which is peculiar only to the Supreme God was universally abhorr'd and detested by the Fathers who look'd upon it as an impious Restauration of Pagan Idolatry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Athanasius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Why do not these Arians since they are of this Opinion descend into the Class of the Unbelieving Gentiles for they are all guilty of one and the same kind of Idolatry Worshipping the Creature besides the Creator But now if the Arians were thus peremptorily condemn'd by the Fathers for Idolatry because they worshipp'd the Blessed Jesus tho' but with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they suppos'd him to be a Creature then how is it possible for our Adversaries to escape the same Condemnation who pay the same degree of worship to those we all know to be Creatures The Arians suppos'd the Son of God to be a Creature but were in the wrong and therefore tho' Formally Idolaters according to their own mistaken Hypothesis yet were they not Materially and Really so But these Men know for certain that the Saints they worship are indeed but Creatures and therefore are as well Materially as Formally Idolaters The Arians worshipp'd the Son indeed as a Creature but then not as an Ordinary Inferiour Creature but as the first the most glorious and the most excellent of all Creatures by whom as an Instrument all the others were made and yet were found Guilty How then shall these Men escape who worship in the same manner these ordinary Inferiour Beings whom we all know to be the Workmanship of his hands as he is God But tho the Saints are to have no part or share in our Devotions yet may we not humbly present our petitions before the Exalted Thrones of Angels and Archangels The Saints indeed were Persons of like Passions with our selves they had their Slips and Miscarriages here upon Earth and now in Heaven still bear the Marks and Badges of their Sins being depriv'd of half of themselves their Bodies But these Blessed indefective Spirits are the First-born Sons of the Heavenly King the most Correct and Amiable Patterns of his Essential Purity and Holiness and certainly he expects we should peculiarly honour them whom himself in so especial a manner delights to honour Honour them indeed we will and in the way most becoming such glorious and Exalted Beings We will endeavour to copy out their heavenly Vertues to transcribe their Heroick Exellencies and to live like Angels here that we may for ever live with them hereafter But to pray to them to invoke them to implore their Aid and Assistance in the time of our Need is what neither they desire nor we can give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see not Rev. 19.10 and 22.9 was the Heavenly Messengers abrupt and hasty prohibition to St. John when dazzled and overcome by his Extraordinary Glory he would erroneously have worshipp'd him for his Adorable Master and he that dares do this holds not the Head says * Col. 2.19 St. Paul but vainly pust up by his fleshly Mind degenerates as the whole Laodicean †Vid. Balsamon Canon p. 841. Council in its thirty fifth Canon truly declares into the Abominable and Sacrilegious Rites of the Idolatrous Jews and Gentiles For whatever Fig-leaves Men may sew together to cover their Nakedness withal 't is most certain that they who in these Nations worshipp'd their Baalim their Daemons or Angels most did it upon the very same Principles as our Adversaries do at this day The ‖ Vid. Plat. sym Apul. de Daemon Socrat. Grotium in 2. cap. Ep. ad Col. v. 18. Pythagoreans ‖ Vid. Plat. sym Apul. de Daemon Socrat. Grotium in 2. cap. Ep. ad Col. v. 18. Platonists and other Learned Heathens will answer for themselves and the Rabbins as they are cited at large by the learned ‖ Intell. Gust p. 468 469. Cudworth for both Jews and Gentiles that they were always so far from thinking by such worship to derogate any thing from the Honour of the Lord Jehovah whom tho' under different Names they all equally acknowledge to be the Common Father of Gods and Men that they did verily believe he was highly pleas'd at that sort of Worship which they gave these his Extraordinary Ministers the Honour redounding chiefly to himself that made them and also that he accepted their Humility who duly sensible of their own Vileness and Unworthiness dar'd not to approach his awful Majesty without the Introduction of such mighty Favourites such Beloved Mediators And yet notwithstanding these so specious Pretences our * Rom. 1. Apostle expressly declares of the Gentiles that when they knew God they glorify'd him not as God but were therefore vain in their Imaginations because they worshipp'd the Creatures tho' not as so many Supreme Independent Beings but only as Mediators of Intercession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Besides the Creator and the Prophets continually bait the Jewish Church for these things with the soul and odious Name of Whore Prostitute Whore and Abominable Harlot So that you see 't is the peculiar Honour the incommunicable Prerogative of the Son of God as the Learned †Orig. cont Cels l. 5. p. 233. l. 8. p. 382.384.395 Father peremptorily and frequently inculcates to be our Mediator to receive our Devotions and to intercede for us at the Right hand of the Father Prayer then shall be made only unto him and daily shall he be prais'd He is the way the Truth and the Life and no man can come unto the Father but by Him As in the Earthly Tabernacle the High-Priest only entered into the most Holy Place beyond the Veil there to be an Agent with God for the People so our only High-Priest the Blessed Jesus has therefore by his own blood entred into the Holy of Holies the Heavenly Tabernacle that there he may appear in the Presence of God for us He is that Angel with the golden Censer who offers the Incense the Prayers of the Saints upon the golden Altar before the Throne that Angel of the Presence that Messenger of the Covenant who is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him Tho' therefore there be as the Learn'd * 1 Cor.
Land where Death reigns for ever and ever Is this I say thy case Why do not any longer despond but throw away thy Garments thy Sins that encompass thee about and rise up for thy Saviour calls thee Behold the Wise Men rise up at his Call they acknowledge his gracious Summons and hastily come away from a far Country and therefore are kindly receiv'd tho' their * Vid. Justin M. Dial. cum Tryph. Jud. pag. 304. Orig. cont Cels lib. 1. p. 45 46. Witchcrafts and Idolatries are so many The humble Shepherd likewise obey the Heavenly Vision as soon as the Angels are gone to Heaven they leave their feeble Flocks and tender Lambs and therefore are graciously admitted to the Presence and Adoration of the great Shepherd of their Souls The Star out of Jacob is risen upon thee also and and if thou wilt follow its Light 't will conduct thee to the Mansions of thy Lord and Saviour The Glory of the Lord too is ready to shine round about thee the abundant Visitations of his Grace from Heaven will if thou art willing dispell the uncomfortable Darkness of the Night all the black Clouds of Melancholy and Despair and enlighten thy Understanding and actuate all thy Faculties till at length they happily bring thee to Bethlehem to the Presence and Embraces of the Holy Jesus Come then I say thou sinking despairing Soul unto thy Saviour Come to him by Faith and Repentance and he will by no means cast thee off Come to him and he will most tenderly receive thee The Bowels of his Compassion will immediatelâ— move towards thee and he will gently take thee by the hand and guide thee into the way that leads to Sion 'T was his Meat and Drink when he liv'd amongst us to proclaim Liberty to the Captives to loosen those whom Sin and Satan has bound to bind up the Broken-hearted to give Medicines to heal their Sicknesses and to preach the acceptable Year of the Lord. And tho' now he is gone to Heaven yet he has not left thee comfortless He is abstracted from thee as to his bodily Presence but his Divine Spirit and Grace still attend and wait upon thee Not all the Glories of Heaven the Allelujahs of the Angels and the triumphant Songs of the Saints can make him forget thee but the same Tenderness of Spirit the same Mercy and Loving-kindness which he had upon Earth he now in the mid'st of all his Glories still retains for thee in Heaven We have not such an High-Priest says the Apostle as cannot be touch'd with the feeling of our Infirmities but who having been tempted himself is able to succour them that are tempted He sits in those glorious Mansions at the Right hand of the Father to make intercession for us His Merits continually plead the Pardon of Repenting Sinners at the Throne of Grace and he is able and willing to save all them to the uttermost that come unto God by him Nay 't is his Glory his Joy and Crown to forgive Sins 'T is the reward of his Sufferings the Recompence of his Agonies to Save Sinners This he so ardently desires and thirsts after that he breaks not the bruised Reed nor quencheth the smoaking Flax but still more and more softens and mollifies the relenting Heart 'till he sends forth Judgment unto Victory He cannot be always chiding neither keepeth he is Anger for ever but tho' he cause Grief yet will he have Compassion according to the multitude of his Mercies Thus when Ephraim turn'd and repented when he smote upon his Thigh and was asham'd for the reproachful Sins of his Youth how tenderly how affectionately does his Maker deal with him Is Ephraim * Jer. 31.20 says he my dear Son Is he a pleasant Child that is Ephraim is indeed my dear Son he is a most pleasant Child for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord. In the same manner when Zion deeply sensible of her Sins grew disconsolate and said within her self The Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me he earnestly protests to her that his Heart was more tender of her than the Heart of any Parent could be of the Child of Infant of her own Womb. Can a Woman * Isa 49.15 says she forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb Tea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands Nay farther is so pleas'd at the Return of a Sinner that he assures us there is Joy in Heaven over such a One yea more Joy among the Angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth than over Ninety and Nine Just Persons who need no Repentance When a lost Sheep of the house of Israel is found when it is rescu'd out of the Jaws of Death and of Hell Snatch'd out of the Paw of that roaring Lion who continually goes about seeking whom he may devour and safely brought back into the Fold of the great Shepherd the Lord Christ Jesus These Blessed Spirits are no sooner acquainted with it but they take into their hands their instruments of Musick and in the highest Strains of Seraphick Joy contulate his Return The Vallies to speak after the Excellent Bishop Taylor are no sooner fill'd with Benediction and a fruitful Shower from Heaven but these Mountains leap with Joy even the Joy of Conquerours This he has sensibly represented to us in the Parable of the Prodigal Luke 15. He had most grievously transgress'd his Duty in every point both to God and Man When his indulgent Father upon his Request had kindly Divided his Living between Him and his Brother expecting you may be sure no small Comfort and Satisfaction from the joynt Welfare and Happiness of his dutiful Children this ungrateful and inhumane Wretch not many days after gathers all together and gets him away into a far Country where forgetful of his most tender Father forgetful of his sorrowful Relations forgetful of his most gracious God he lies wallowing in the Mire of all Fifthiness and Debauchery mispending his precious hours in the Conversation and Caresses of shameless prostitute abominable Strumpets and wasting all his Substance in a most profligate brutish and riotous way of living Yet no sooner does his Father spy him returning home with a penitent Confession in his Mouth but notwithstanding his great Unworthiness his Bowels are mov'd towards him yea he becomes impatient cannot expect his near Approach but his Joy and Affection give him wings Whilst he is yet a great way off he runs he flies to meet him has not Patience to stay for his humble Confession but immediately in an Extasie of Joy falls upon his Neck forgives and kisses him The best Robe the fattest Calf Musick and Dancing all the Expressions of the most solemn and extraordinary Joy
he thought Ambition might be most likely to Ruine him since 't was that which prevail'd so powerfully upon himself and accordingly the Dominions of the World are offer'd to the Soveraign Disposer of them and the Heir of all the Kingdoms of the Earth is tempted to accept of his own at the expence of falling down and worshipping the Devil Which brings me to the other part of this my Third Particular which is to observe what various Ways and Methods this cunning Serpent takes to intrap us When the Devil intends a Battery he views the Strength and Situation of the Place and where he espies the weakest Guards there he most vigorously makes his Onset True it is that in our Saviour he could have no such Advantage but how Fatal it has prov'd to his Spouse the Church no Man that justly glories in the Title of a Christian can be ignorant He stirr'd up Kings and Princes and the greatest Powers and Policies of the World to confederate and combine together to extirpate and banish it from off the Face of the Earth By Arms and Armies by Strength and Subtilty by Malice and Cruelty he endeavour'd to stifle and smother it in its Infancy and first Delivery into the World But when he found that notwithstanding all this Opposition it still lifted up its Head in triumph and outbrav'd the fiercest Storms of the most violent Persecutions that neither Swords nor Axes nor Crosses nor wild Beasts nor Chains nor Fire nor all other Instruments of the most exquisite Tortures could prevail any thing at all but that as he complainingly tells Porphyry they might as well and to better purpose attempt to write upon the Surface of the Water or to fly like a Bird in the Air than to reduce the Christian from his Sentiments and compel him to blaspheme he immediately betakes himself to other Counsels and seeks to undermine that Faith which he saw he could not carry by open Assault and Battery And how successfully he thus work'd in God's Vineyard the many Heresies which grew up together with the Gospel do sufficiently demonstrate But to pass from Universals to Particulars from Communities of Men to Individuals Let us through all the intermediate Ages retreat to the Origin of the World and we shall find him even then giving a full and convictive Evidence of that Craft and Subtilty which he exercis'd more at large in Succeeding Generations He beheld our first Father entertaining his Wife with the fondest Caresses of too amorous a Fancy and therefore by the Mediation of so dear an Object he presents the Temptation He knew that his Arguments were not convincing of themselves and therefore the beauteous hands of the young Virgin-Mistress are made the Orators Thus afterwards in the ears of envious Saul he Sounded the glorious Panegyricks of his Rival and suggested to his remiss and unguarded Successor the softer Whispers of the Spirit of Fornication Before young Beginners in Religion he displays a frightful Scene of ensuing Difficulties that 't is a solitary lonesome melancholy Profession under whose baleful Influence nothing but Roots of Bitterness can spring up He insinuates into their Heads that God is a consuming Fire to all alike that he is busied in Heaven not only to destroy the Wicked and to dash in pieces Vessels of Dishonour but likewise to break the bruised Reed and to cast smoaking Flax into the Flames of Hell He suggests to them that Christ is a hard Task Master who tho' he very well knows that our Foundation is in the Clay yet unreasonably obligeth us to the Work of Angels and to the Performances of the most Exalted and Beatify'd Spirits That though the Law is prescrib'd to Persons whose Varieties and different Constitutions cannot be regular or uniform yet he allows no Latitude of Performance but unmercifully binds us all to just Atoms and Points And thus by opening his Mouth in Blasphemy against God and by pretending to speak peaceably to Men by deterring them either with the pretended Difficulties of Religion or by blowing up their new-kindled Zeal into Superstition in short by all the Arts which either his Hellish Malice or Policy can invent he labours to ruin the Children of Men so that if the over-ruling hand of Providence had not put a Hook into the Nostrils of this Leviathan the Foundations of the Intellectual as well as of the Natural World had long since been out of course Which brings me to my Fourth and Last Particular which is to shew tho' he has Malice enough to destroy us all yet that he cannot do us the least Mischief unless God permits him 4. 'T is the Opinion I confess of the Learned Part of the World that the Strength and Natural Faculties of this Prince of Darkness are nothing diminish'd or impair'd by his Fall but that he still glories in the same Power which swell'd him with so much Pride as to say in his Heart I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God I will sit upon the sides of the North I will ascend above the Heights of the Clouds I will be like the Most High Yet this ought not to discourage the weakest of us for let his Strength be what it will and his Malice so great that as the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon's Wisdom and Prosperity the half of it has not been told us yet we are sure that he has his Bounds and Limits prescrib'd him and that as Jamblichus comfortably remarks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is one God who over-rules all the Legions of malignant Daemons For this we have the Confession of the Devil himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haec aliaque hujusmodi oracula referuntur à Porphyrio Proclo Ethnicisque aliis nonnulla etiam à Lactantio Videas item Gallaeum qui hoc oraculum habet ad calcem Sibyll pag. 43. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Daemons says he which wander about the Earth how unruly and ungovernable soever are tam'd by the irresistable Scourge of God's Rod. And how truly he spake the History of Job and of the Herd of Swine make manifest and apparent There we see they could not so much as enter the filthy Swine till Christ had given them leave nor touch a Hair of that good Man till permitted from above so that what that afflicted Saint says in another Case is verify'd in this That hitherto indeed he may come but no farther and here shall his proud Rage be stay'd From what has been thus discours'd I shall now briefly deduce two or three Corollaries and conclude 1. Then Let us consider what End and Design God has in suffering these Enemies of Mankind to be abroad in the Earth and since we shall find that he leads us through this great and terrible Wilderness wherein are fiery Serpents and Scorpions that he may humble us and that he may prove us to do us Good at our Latter End let us never frustrate such gracious
ever and ever Let it warn us to be perpetually mindful of our Mortality and humbly and diligently to wait all the days of our appointed time till our Change come In a word Let it oblige us to forget those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before to press with all possible Vehemence towards the Mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus 2. You have seen how great and glorious the Rewards that expect us in the other World are that they are both proportion'd to the utmost Capacity of the Soul and also will be enjoy'd to all Eternity Do not you then long for this happy state and sigh and desire ardently with St. Paul to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ * My Father and Mr. John Gregory in his posthumous Discourse of the Morality of the Sabbath pag. 101. Here as says a Blessed Author you have hard Working-days sore Labour and Travel under the Sun The Devil assaults you the World hates you your own evil Hearts many times distress you and crazy Bodies discourage you We are all here clouded with Sin and Misery and ah our Vileness is upon us Let us then bear up our Souls upon the loftiest Wing of Divine Contemplation and follow our Ascending Lord above this Darkness and miserable Habitations into the radiant Mansions of his Fathers House the Kingdom of Glory Let us meditate Day and Night upon that blessed time when we shall have our Feet upon the Top of Mount Sion and rejoyce in the Felicity of his Chosen the unfolded and essential Glories of his Divine Countenance which are too bright for our mortal Faculties and which none can see and live When we shall give Thanks with his Inheritance the blessed Societies of Saints and Angels and everlastingly enjoy the delicious Repasts of Anthems and Allelujahs in short upon the infinite Transports and Ravishments of the Soul in the secure and everlasting Fruition of the Divine Love upon the mutual Endearments and Caresses of Immortal Spirits and upon all those glorious things which are spoken by him who made and fully understands them of the City of God Let us frequently and seriously I say contemplate these things and they will most assuredly so influence our Wills and fan the Flame of our Affections that we shall become perfectly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dead to our selves and to all the luscious Relishes of the sensual Nature continually tending upwards with importunate Reaches towards heavenly Objects Then we shall be sufficiently encourag'd to take up the Cross of Christ and willingly and chearfully undergo all the Afflictions and Tribulations of this Life well knowing that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compar'd with the Glory that shall be revealed in us this light Affliction which is but for a moment working for us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an infinitely more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Lastly As our future Happiness proceeds from the Vision of God so you have seen that without Holiness no Man can see him Let this then excite us to form and fashion the Frame of our Minds into a Likeness and Affinity with our Blessed Maker Let it oblige us to prepare our selves for the Intuition of his Beauty to purifie ourselves as he is pure and to purge refine and spiritualize our Nature that we may be qualify'd for the Possession of our proper Centre our home and native Region the Highest Heaven Let it lead our awak'ned Souls to the Divine Goodness and Philanthropy for the Regulation of their disorderly and tumultuous Appetites and induce them humbly and intensly to pray at the Throne of Grace that they may perfect Holiness in the Fear of God For when we thus sincerely desire to shake our selves from the Dust to arise and put on our beautiful Garments and to see the King in his Beauty the Glory of the Lord will be revealed to us and we shall certainly behold the Excellency of our God As the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride solacing himself in the ardent and dear Reciprocations of her Love so will our God rejoyce over us He will be in the midst of us he will save us he will rejoyce over us with Joy He will rest in his Love he will rejoyce over us with Singing He will take away all our Dross and for his Name 's sake purifie and cleanse the Corruptions of our Nature until the Righteousness thereof go forth as Brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth In a word He will vouchsafe us the most gracious Visitations and Elapses of his Holy Spirit and never leave letting himself down into us till he has quite loosen'd us from Sin and from ourselves and wrought us up into such a blessed Uniformity with the Divine Nature as will make us meet for his amiable Dwellings the City of Righteousness where we shall joyfully mention the loving Kindnesses of the Lord and be for ever delighted with the Abundance of his Glory Which God of his Infinite Mercy grant c. HEBREWS ii 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation IN handling these Words I shall endeavour to shew 1. The Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ and 2. Our Inexcusableness and the intolerable Aggravations of our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect it That so either common Gratitude in reflecting upon the infinite Condescensions of Divine Love may draw us or at least the Terrors of the Lord may affright us into Obedience For how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation I. I am to shew the greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ And this appears 1. From the Consideration of the Greatness and Majesty of the Person undertaking it Now 't was not any one of the Patriarchs who were burning and shining Lights in their Generations 'T was not Moses nor one of the Prophets by whom in times past he spake unto the Fathers But when the Fulness of the time was come God dealt with us as the Lord of the Vineyard did with his Husbandmen last of all sending even his own Son to be his Ambassadour to Mankind His own Son from whom by the Spirit all those Divine Teachers which from the Beginning of the World to his Birth went before him in the Flesh receiv'd their Power and Commission Of whom Moses and the Prophets were only Types Fore-runners and Shadows Figures Ministers and Substitutes to prepare and enable the World by degrees to receive this great Mystery of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh this last and universal Declaration of Life and Immortality brought to light in his Gospel His own Son who is his only-Begotten Co-essential and Co-eternal with himself the Heir of all things the Lord of Glory the very Brightness of his Fathers Glory the Express Image of his Person full of Grace and Truth His own Son * Col. 1.16 17. by whom were
all Duty and Obedience a Charter only of Libertinism and Licentiousness Provided a Man be orthodox in his Notions and sound in his Faith 't is no matter how he lives like an Angel or like a Devil so apt are Men to abjure their Reason in complement to their Senses and rather than forsake their darling Vices to shelter them under the Patronage even of the immaculate Jesus But if we look upon Christianity as our Great Master himself is pleas'd to hold the Perspective as he is all Fair 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 50.2 the Perfection of Beauty and the Holy One of Israel so would his Institution appear to be a most fair and amiable Copy of his Eternal Beauty and Holiness It commands us not to rest in a fruitless barren and dead Faith but to evidence its Life and Reality by our Works That we walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called turning from these Idols of our own Brains these vain fantastick Ideas of our carnal Imaginations to serve truly and painfully the Living God That we trifle not away our precious hours in Idleness and Impertinence but work out our Salvation with all that Care and Solicitude a matter of such moment requires even with Fear and Trembling It endeavour◠by all the endearing Methods of everlasting Love and Kindness to allure and charm us into the Practice of all Vertues beseeching us even by the Mercies of God all those ineffable Appearances of Goodness which take up the Wonder the Praises and the Adorations of the Sons of God in Glory that we think no Sacrifices worthy of our Maker but such as are offer'd in the purest Fires the most ardent and brightest Flames of Seraphick Love That the Redeem'd of the Lord declare not his Glory in such feeble Sounds and Voices as are the faint Echoes of a distant Valley but that they clap their hands together with Joy and Chearfulness and sing Praises to him lustily and with a good Courage That our Souls with all their Powers and Faculties magnifie and set forth the admirable Greatness of the Lord and our Minds also or Spirits rejoyce with Joy unspeakable in God their Saviour In a word That we do not the Work of the Lord negligently nor be remiss and slothful in the great Business of our Souls but always fervent in Spirit vigorously industrious to improve all those Talents all those golden Opportunities God intrusts us with to our greatest Advantage with our utmost Diligence serving the Lord. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might The Reasonableness of which Exhortation I shall briefly represent to you from these following Considerations I. From the Nature of God II. From the Nature of our own Souls III. From the transcendent and inestimable Value of the Rewards that attend us And IV. From the exceeding Brevity or Shortness of the time we are allow'd to work in 1. From the Nature of God Was God indeed such a one as the Epicureans fansi'd him to be a Being taken up with the Fruition and Contemplation of his own Blessedness and that would never vouchsafe to respect the humble Addresses and Supplications of his most faithful Servants we should have no great reason to wonder at that Coldness and Indifferency that lukewarm and careless Behaviour which appears so visibly in our Religious Performances Nay I could willingly conclude with the Wise * Senec. de Benef. lib. 4. cap. 4. Heathen that nothing but pure Madness could induce Mankind to bestow any Worship at all upon such a Being who as though he was deaf as Baal and helpless as Dagon after all their Wrestlings and Importunities would neither hear them nor help them But alas we have no such Pretence or Subterfuge for our Impiety The God whom we serve is indeed that Blessedness and Eternal Being that rests upon his own Center without the Assistance of any External Object enjoying infinite Delight and Complacency from the solitary Contemplation of his own Essential Perfections He dwells in the high and lofty Place encircled with such transcendent Rays of Light that the brightest Seraphim veil their Faces and at an awful distance adore his inaccessible Glory Yet do Mercy and Goodness so essentially sit enthron'd with his glorious Majesty that even he who thus inhabits Eternity humbleth himself to behold the things that are done both in Heaven and Earth The Lord looketh down from Heaven says the * Psal 33.13 Psalmist and beholds all the Children of Men from the habitation of his Dwelling he considereth all them that dwell upon the Earth And the Philosophick Orator without the help of Revelation Sit persuasum civibus says he and so on i. e. Let all the Citizens assuredly know that God takes particular notice what manner of Persons we are with what Mind and Devotion we perform the Acts of our Religious Worship and that he will deal with every man according to his Works He is not a petty Prince 1 King 20.13 28. as the Syrians profanely imagin'd whose Knowledge and Soveraignty are confin'd only to a particular Province but the Lord most High is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Not only the shining Inhabitants of the Courts above the innumerable and invincible Legions of Glorious Angels but the inferiour Troops likewise of natural Causes serve under his Banner and duly execute his Commands He maketh the Spirits or Winds his Messengers and the flaming Fires his Agents or Ministers The Clouds at his Command drop Fatness upon the Hills and Mountains and the Valleys likewise by his Blessing stand in their Season so thick with Corn that they laugh and sing Yea the most casual and seemingly fortuitous Actions are order'd by his Wisdom and the Sun sees nothing in all his Course so little and inconsiderable but what falls under his Care and Providence He feeds the young Ravens that call upon him and the Lions roaring after their prey do seek and receive their Meat from God By him do the Rose in Sharon and the Lily of the Valleys on play their fragrant Beauties and the airy Choiristers securely sit upon the Boughs and sing not one of them falling to the ground without our heavenly Father Yea the very Hairs of our Head says our Lord are all numbred In short no Space no Place exludes his Presence He penetrates into the Center of our Spirits enters the secret Chambers the closest Recesses and Retirements of our Hearts yea and discovers all our most secret Thoughts and Imaginations long before we our selves do even before they are He is about our Paths and about our Beds and spies out all our ways Now then considering the Nature of God how ought our Souls think ye to be employ'd in his Worship and Service Is this God whose Majesty fills Heaven and Earth to be approach'd with flat and tepid Devotions Is he fond of trifling impertinent Ceremonies or to be pleas'd with Lip-Devotion and complemental Addresses
a Prison before the Tribunal of Christ and hear the just Sentence of Eternal Death more solemnly pronounc'd against them before the General Assembly of the Saints and Angels This I say is the deplorable and undone Condition of the Apostate Angels Their Fall is irrecoverable their Sin irremissible and the Decree that is gone out against them irreversible But Man tho' a Being of a much lower Class and an Apostate too finds Favour and Mercy at the hands of his God He vouchsafes him the liberty of Second Thoughts and if we will but be obedient and hearken promiseth an entire Renovation of his Corrupted Nature by the abundant and powerful Communications of his most Holy Spirit Nay so desirous is he of this happy Change that he long prostitutes his Patience as I shall instantly shew more at large to Mens wanton Humours in Expectation of it is contented to lay aside his amazing Glories and seems to divest and strip himself of all his Attributes save that of Mercy His All-seeing Eye graciously overlooks our manifold Sins and Wickednesses and as tho' he saw them not continues to shine upon us with its reviving Brightness His Justice gives way to his Forbearance and Long-suffering and when it takes place 't is so temper'd and qualify'd that in the midst of Judgment he always remembers Mercy Mercy is his Favourite his darling Excellence that lovely and amiable Attribute which is over all his Works and in which we are sure his Soul takes most Delight and Complacency 'T was by this Name he in the Presence and Assembly of his invincible Holy Ones upon Mount Sinai most solemnly proclaim'd himself to his Servant Moses The Lord Exod. 34.6 says he the Lord God merciful and gracious Nay tho' he is the God of all Truth and therefore can no more deceive than be deceived yet as though it had been a small thing thus to have proclaim'd himself before Men and Angels he has likewise in a gracious and wonderful Condescension to the Infirmities of his Creatures and that the broken and contrite Spirit might have the surest Word of Promise that could possibly be given it vouchsaf'd even to interpose his Oath and as solemnly to swear the same thing As I live saith the Lord God Ezek. 33.11 I have no pleasure in the death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel What tender what compassionate Strains are these 'T is as if he had said Since there is no Being so great as my self by my self I have sworn that as sure as I am God that eternal and faithful Being with whom is no Variableness or Shadow of Turning I desire not the Death of any Sinner but had rather ten thousand times over that you would all from the least to the greatest hear my Voice in this Accepted Time this day of Salvation and repent and be sav'd For now do I freely offer you my Grace which I most passionately beseech and intreat you to accept and to return and live Turn ye then turn ye unto me for why will ye die Why will ye weary me out with your continued Provocations Why will ye constrain me by your unworthy and most wretched Abuses of my Grace your insufferable Grievings of my Spirit at length to depart from you and to leave you to die in your Sins Is Eternal Death so desirable a thing Is Heaven and my Glory so despicable and vile Why then let me ask you again since you have my free Grace to enable you to Return nay since 't is far easier for you to be saved than to be damned why why will ye die O house of Israel Thus does our Heavenly Father by the most solemn Protestations demonstrate his Everlasting Love and Kindness to Mankind And how exactly do all his Dispensations correspond with these his gracious Declarations With what Patience I say and Forbearance does he deal even with the greatest of Sinners How affectionately intreat them to fly into the Harbour and to secure themselves by a timely Reformation from the Wrath which is to come Such various Ways and Methods does he contrive to bring them to Repentance so earnestly beg and sollicite them to accept in time the Terms of Salvation that one would think 't was his own not their Interest that Men should be sav'd He always like a generous Enemy declares Sinners his just Anger and Displeasure and excites them before it be too late to prepare to Meet him and with Weapons which will most certainly prevail viz. Prayers and Tears to disarm his Justice Thus when within the small compass of about two thousand years his gracious and marvellous Works of Creation and Providence were so far from being prais'd and had in Honour that all Flesh had degenerated from this great End of its Creation and most shamefully corrupted its way upon the Earth tho' he was griev'd to speak after the manner of Men at the very Heart and it repented him that he had made Man yet he could not immediately withdraw his Hand and let him fall into Ruine but mercifully prolong'd the day of Vengeance and gave his sinful Creatures time and space for Repentance He resolv'd indeed that the Spirits which he had made should not Eternally remain in their Bodies as Slaves and Vassals to those Instruments of Unrighteousness but that if Men repented not he would open the Windows of Heaven and break up the Fountains of the great Deep and bring in a Flood upon them that should sweep them all away But before he can do this Noah a Preacher of Righteousness must daily assure them of their Danger and he waits their Repentance a hundred and twenty Years Thus too tho' the Sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were very grievous and cryed loud and the Cry of them ascended up into the Ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth yet could not they prevail with him to let loose his Thunder to overwhelm them with a swift and deserv'd Destruction but on the contrary to prevent if possible their Ruine he by his good Providence so order'd and dispos'd things that Lot a holy and pious Person living amongst them should first lay before them their prodigious Impieties and warn them to prevent the heavy Judgments due to them by a speedy Repentance And when notwithstanding all this they sinned yet more and forc'd his Holy Spirit to forsake them utterly by their intolerable Fornications yet would not his Goodness then give him leave to execute upon them the Fierceness of his Indignation but still stay'd his hand and engag'd him to be gracious As though 't was possible for him to be deceiv'd it induc'd him to make a further Enquiry to go down and see whether they had indeed done altogether according to the Cry of it which was come unto him Nay tho' their Sins and Provocations were so many and so great yet so much
so are become the Objects of our Devotion from the constant and faithful Relations of daily ascending Saints and Angels from the Informations and kind Intercourses of Guardian Angels and the narrations of such happy Spirits as leaving their Earthly Tabernacle daily ascend thither because 't is evident you see that there are many things here amongst us which these Saints and Angels can never understand many Designs and Contrivances many Wishes and Desires many Vows and Prayers that are lodg'd only in the Heart and consequently are known only unto God Wherefore 4. The Saints in Heaven have not a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion from the vision of the Divine Essence which they call Speculum Trinitatis Now 't is a great Question amongst Learn'd Men Whether the Blessed Spirits above are indeed capable of seeing the Divine Essence and many of no ordinary note espouse the Negative thinking it as impossible for a Created Finite Being to behold the Essence of an Uncreated Infinite Being as 't is for a Bird of Night to gaze steddily upon the Sun Which Opinion if true entirely destroys this Speculum Trinitatis and dashes it with its Consequences all to pieces upon the Ground But I confess I hitherto see nothing that can induce me to embrace it The Affirmative seems most consonant both to Scripture and Reason When Moses humbly desir'd that God would vouchsafe to shew him his Glory or to imprint upon his Mind a clear distinct Idea of his Divine Essence he was answer'd That he could nor have his wish now whilst he lay under the Disadvantages of Mortality because he was a God dwelling in such Light as no Mortal Eye could approach but that he should so see him hereafter when these Impediments should be remov'd and he happily invested with the stronger Privileges of Immortality Thou can'st not see my Face says God Exod. 33.20 for there shall no man see me and live For these words certainly imply That tho' he could not now by reason of the thick Veil of his flesh yet that he should see his Essence hereafter both when his Earthly Tabernacle should be dissolv'd and laid aside and also when he should receive it again all clarify'd and spiritualiz'd Moses himself undoubtedly understood them thus for had he thought otherwise and that he was never to be admitted to the Intuition of his Maker's Glory the naked clear and real Vision of his Divine Essence but that he was for ever to rest in Symbals and Figures in reflected Glories and secondary Manifestations which was to find his Ultimate Happiness in some thing really distinct from his God his devout affectionate Soul which so ardently breath'd after the most intimate Fruition even of the Living God would never have been satisfy'd with this uncomfortable Answer but we had questionless heard of the sad Complaints the bitter Bemoanings and doleful Accents of his disconsolate Spirit who when the natural Byass of her Desires mov'd necessarily towards God trembling continually like the amorous Needle for the Embraces of that most Lovely and Amiable Object was yet for ever excluded from his Beatifick Presence the Contemplation and Fruition of the interiour Beauties of her Belov'd And indeed we all so naturally desire to see this First Cause this Parent of Nature and the Author of all our Beings that tho' we were surrounded with all the Sweets of Paradise all the other most exquisite Delights and Entertainments that Heaven can afford yet without Him they would but fade and wither and dwindle into nothing and our restless dissatisfy'd Spirits would still in the midst of them all be impatiently crying out Ah! Where Where is our God For as He is the First of Beings so is He the Last of Ends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Plato rightly that proper and principal End of Rational Beings the Vision of whom alone can satisfie the aspiring Soul and in the Circle of whose Embraces only the immoratal Spirit finds Rest and Peace and Joy for Evermore See him then we shall in the other World See the Soveraign Fair openly and clearly really and as He is Now we hear of him by the Ear but then shall our Eye with Joy and Triumph see him Now we see through a glass darkly but then Face to Face Now we know only in part but then shall we know even as we our selves also are known This Expression I readily acknowledge is not to be understood according to the Strictness of the Letter As we are known is a Note of Similitude only not of Equality for the Sun may as well be included in a Spark of Fire as God be comprehended by our Finite Faculties Know him then we shall not so as to comprehend him but so as to be ravish'd and for ever transported with his Essential Perfections The Light of a Candle as truly shines as the Light of the Sun tho' not with equal Extent and Splendour so shall our Knowledge be truly like His reaching even His Divine Essence tho' not Equal to His in comprehending it as He does ours Thus far then are we and our Adversaries agreed The Saints in Heaven do really view and contemplate the Divine Essence But now to say that they behold in it all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion is most absurd and ridiculous If you let a Vessel down into the Sea 't will indeed be fill'd to the utmost of its Capacity but then you know it must needs overflow because 't is impossible it should receive into its Bosom the vast Congeries of that inexhaustible Abyss So admit the Saints into the Presence of their Maker where they may clearly and distinctly behold his Divine Essence their Finite Understandings may indeed by his voluntary Revelations be filled with all that Knowledge they are capable of receiving but then 't is necessary they likewise overflow because 't is absolutely impossible they should be widen'd and enlarg'd to the infinite and boundless Comprehensions of Omniscience This besides the Reason of the thing which assures us that 't is absolute impossible any Being should have the Attributes of the Divine Nature which has not the Divine Nature it self is plain from the Instance of the Angels These Blessed Spirits were before the Incarnation of our Lord admitted into their Father's House the Mansions of Glory the Royal City of the Heavenly King The time of their Probation was over and gone and they all unalterably confirm'd in a state of Happiness and Glory Their Business and Employment was to contemplate the Unfolded Beauties of the Divine Countenance and to sing continually in the Presence of the Lord that Great is the Glory of their
God And yet how imperfect was the Knowledge how improveable the Understandings even of these Intelligences Notwithstanding this clear Vision of the Divine Essence the Mystery of Man's Redemption was so far hid from their Eyes that before the Manifestation of the Son of God in the Flesh they had only some general dark and obscure Notices of it And tho' now as * Ephes 3.10 St. Paul tells us the manifold Wisdom of God is in a greater measure made known unto them by his Dispensations in the Church yet even now are they so far from being able to comprehend it that †1 Epist 1.12 St. Peter assures us they still desire to look farther into it These things says he the Angels desire to look into In short our Lord has put this case beyond all doubt for speaking of the Day of Judgment Of that Day and Hour ‖ Matth. 24.36 Mat. 13.32 says he knoweth no Man no not the Angels of Heaven nor the Son but my Father only For if the Son of God himself as Man tho' he is to be the Umpire of that Great Day and the Holy Angels who always behold the Face of their Father and who with unspeakable Alacrity and Joy will attend and wait upon him in this his glorious Expedition was once and are still ignorant in this matter then certainly it can be nothing but Folly and Madness to imagine that the Spirits of Just Men and Women which tho' never so perfect as such are as they stand in Relation to their Bodies to whom they have a natural Inclination even in Heaven it self but in a State of Imperfection should so far excel as to have an entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done both in Heaven and Earth Now then from what has been thus discours'd I presume 't is Evident that there is no Foundation in Reason to think that the Saints tho in Heaven have a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion as our Adversaries pretend but that on the contrary we have all the Reason in the World to conclude that they have no constant Knowledge of any thing here below and consequently that according to the Romish Doctors themselves 't is otiosum Supervacaneum an idle vain and superfluous and according to Truth it self an impious wicked and idolatrous piece of Devotion that is put up to them For tho' we allow that God does sometimes of his especial Grace vouchsafe by an Extraordinary Revelation to acquaint his Saints with something of our Affairs here below like the good Shepherd in the Gospel who when he had found the Sheep he had lost soon inform'd his Neighbours of it and call'd them together to rejoyce with him for it nay farther tho' I cannot think it too much to grant that the Saints in Heaven do not only intercede with God for the Church in general that he would be favourable and gracious unto Sion and vouchsafe to repair the Breaches in the Walls of Jerusalem but also that some of them at some Times on some Occasions which either an immediate Revelation from God himself or perhaps the Relation of a Guardian Angel or possibly a short Errand of their own discovers to them do as * Ep. ad Trall pag. 80. Vsser Edit Ignatius †De Orat. sect 34 Origen ‖ De Mortalit pag. 166. Ed. Oxon. Cyprian and ** Vid. Aug. Confess l. 9. c. 3. Basil Hom. 20. Ambros de obitu Theod. Hieron Ep. 25. others think they do Pray for some of us in particular yet since there is no certainty in this matter no Revelation to inform us when this is done or indeed whether it be so much as done at all we cannot from such pious Conjectures only infer with the Council of Trent that we ought to Pray to them or make them the Mediators between God and our selves especially since besides the Arguments already alledg'd God himself has expressly pronounc'd him Curs'd who thus trusteth in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm and whose Heart departeth from the Lord. All we are to do is to Praise and Magnifie the Name of God for them that he has been pleas'd of his gracious Goodness to deliver their Souls from the Burthen of the Flesh from the Waves and Storms of this tempestuous World and to land them safely on the peaceful Harbour of Eternity That he adorn'd and inrich'd them with his manifold Gifts and Graces whereby they are rendered as burning and shining Light to his Church in succeeding Generations This I say together with a Reverential Respect and study of Imitation is all we have to do upon their Account and This we are sure whatever the Trent Doctors determine was the only Inference the Primitive Church made from these Premises 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Honour says * Vid. tom 5. p. 625. Vid. Eus Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 15. pag. 134 135. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 8. c. 27. l. 22. c. 10. S. Chrysostom that we are to pay to the Martyrs is to strike the same Lines as those invincible Heroes have done to copy out their Fortitude and Magnanimity and with the like Chearfulness to lay down our Lives for the Lord's sake And so I come to my 3. Particular which is to shew That as this Assertion has no Foundation in Scripture nor Reason so neither has it the least Support from Antiquity Spiritus Defunctorum †De curâ pro mortuis says St. Austin non vident quaecunque eveniunt aut aguntur in istâ vitâ hominum i. e. The Spirits of the Saints departed do not know all things that are Acted upon the Stage of the World And * Ep. 3. de Epitaph Nepot St. Hierom speaking of his deceased Friend Nepotianus is more particular Quicquid dixero says he quia ille non audit mutum videtur quocum loqui non possumus de eo loqui non desinamus Whatsoever I shall say seems dumb and to no purpose because Nepotian does not hear me yet since we can no more speak with him let us be the longer in speaking of him I know the Fathers about the latter End of the Fourth Century in their Funeral and Anniversary Panegyricks of the Saints and Martyrs frequently use very elegant and affectionate Apostrophe's to them as tho' they suppos'd them present But the Popish Abusers of this innocent Custom would do well to consider that they most cautiously usher them in with If 's and And 's as in that †Orat. 1. cont Julian of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hear O thou Soul of the Renown'd Constantine if thou hast any sence or knowledge of these matters For every School-boy will tell them that this is only a Rhetorical Flourish a pleasing Strain of
Lustre upon the Solemnization of this present Day A Day which if any may most properly be said to be made by the Lord since it bears the liveliest Characters and Impresses of his Power and knowledge of his Wisdom and Goodness and of all those other glorious Attributes whereby we are assur'd that he governs the World For trace the Histories of ancient Times turn over all Authors both Sacred and Prophane and the Day of our Spiritual Redemption excepted produce me a Day like This so memorable in its Circumstances so glorious in its Issue and so unparallel'd in its Consummation Of all those Deliverances God in past Ages vouchsaf'd his Church methinks none ever amounted to the Wonder of this Day when I consider 1. The black and dismal nature of the Design which was this Day fram'd against us And 2. The Strangeness and Unexpectedness of our Deliverance from it 1. I say It will appear that of all those Deliverances God in past Ages vouchsaf'd his Church none ever amounted to the Wonder of this Day and consequently that this Day of all others may most properly be said to be made by the Lord if we consider the black and dismal nature of the Design which was this Day fram'd against us As the Heavens rejoyc'd and the Earth was glad to see the glory of the Lord in the uncorrupted Light of the Gospel after a long Night of Ignorance and Superstition arise in Brightness upon us so those restless Spirits who always bore Evil-will to our Zion as though they had received a second Downfall in their undiscerned Habitations vented themselves in nothing but Lamentations and Mournings and Woe They saw the unparallell'd Beauty of her Countenance which tho' long mask'd and clouded with the Veil of Widowhood did now at length break forth in such Splendour and Brightness that the Gentiles were coming to her Light and Kings to rejoyce in the Brightness of her Rising That therefore in this holy Mountain there was no Den for such Beasts of Prey but that they must either forego their beloved Dainties and peaceably lie down in the Pastures with the Lamb or for their own Security betake themselves to harder seeding in the barren Recesses of the Wilderness Wherefore impatient both of Restraint and Exile they incontinently breathed out our Destruction and to support and underprop their sinking Interest at sundry Times and in divers Manners endeavour'd to overturn the Foundations of our Felicity sometimes with the factious Son of Sheba they blow'd the Trumpet of Rebellion disclaim'd their Right in David and endeavoured by good Words and fair Speeches to perswade others also that they likewise had no Inheritance in the King Sometimes on the contrary by the terrible Assaults of Anathema's Curses and Excommunications they laboured to scare and fright us into a Compliance But when they found that notwithstanding all their Craft and Subtlety their Designs were still defeated and unravell'd and all their most cunningly contriv'd Enterprises dwindled into continual Disappointments that their ravenous woolfish Nature tho' never so close cover'd with Sheeps-cloathing was always discovered and that none therefore dar'd to come in to their Standard nor tho' led on by the Infallible Hero himself to enter the Field against the Lords Anointed so that neither their Armado's from Spain nor false Witnesses from St. Omers nor all those dreadful Thunderings and Lightnings from Rome could prevail any thing at all but that the Virgin the Daughter of Zion despis'd them and laugh'd them to scorn the Daughter of Jerusalem still shook her head at them as Men even encouraged by Disappointments and emboldned by Repulses they start anew and rather than be for ever frustrated are contented to devest themselves utterly of their Humanity and to embark into so barbarous so savage a Design as will make the ears of all Posterity to tingle Many Waters cannot quench their burning Rage neither can the Floods how deep soever drown their Fury but they resolve to tear in pieces the more excellent Prey and one way or other to take their Pastime in Rivers of Royal Blood Flectere fi nequeunt Superos Since Heaven and Earth Angels and Men are against them they descend into the Regions of Darkness and Obscurity as if they design'd to ask Counsel of the Powers of Darkness And indeed whoever accurately contemplates the nature of this cursed Design must needs acknowledge it to bear all the marks of a hellish diabolical Off-spring For where but in the dismal Regions of everlasting Malice and Cruelty could be hatch'd so barbarous so villainous a Conspiracy A Conspiracy so black and detestable so hideous in its Circumstances so fatal in its Consequences that 't is hardly possible to imagine that it could have been invented by Man unless what the Jews of old thought of their Daemoniacks they had really been converted into the Nature and Substance of fierce implacable destructive Daemons A Conspiracy which if it had taken effect would have utterly extinguish'd the Light of our Israel and overspread the Nation again with thick Darkness of Ignorance and Superstition which would have murdered the Lord 's Anointed and accomplish'd the savage Tyrants most execrable Wish at one Blow cutting off the Head even of three Kingdoms nay in a moment in the twinkling of an eye have entirely destroy'd both Root and Branch King and Parliment Prince and People Peers and Prelates Lords and Commons A Conspiracy that would have involv'd us all in Blood exposed our Wives and Children to the merciless Fury of our Enemies and enslav'd our Lives and Fortunes Souls and Bodies to the imperious and domineering Lords of monopolizing Rome Lastly A Conspiracy it was whose teeming Womb was ready to bring forth the ghastly Issue of Blood and Fire and pillars of smoak which would either have rendered our beautiful Cities a Wilderness or which is worse an Habitation of Dragons and made Jerusalem a Desolation Alas These unrighteous and cruel Men did not design only to shake off the Leaves or to lop off the Branches of this fruitful Vine but entirely to pluck her up by the Roots * Ps 137.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lay her wast and down with her even to the ground was all the Cry So that not only our Land would have mourn'd for the Loss of her Gracious Soveraign our Cities of their wise and prudent Governours our Countries of their vigilant and powerful Guardians which alone would have rendred us the Wonder and Astonishment of Men and Angels but which is yet worse if any thing can be worse our pure and undefil'd Religion had also been lost in the general Devastation Those insatiable flames which had devour'd her noble Patrons would likewise unmercifully have prey'd upon her drooping Vitals till they had rarisy'd her Substance into a mere empty Shadow and chang'd the Spirituality of her Worship into external cumbersome impertinent Ceremonies In short Whatever the very Quintessence and Elixir of all villainy and
all things made Visible and Invisible Those most glorious and exalted Sons of the Morning who when the Foundations of the World were laid sang melodiously together and shouted for Joy as well as the Beasts of the Field All Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers in Heaven and Earth as well as the subordinate Classes of inferiour Beings and who still upholds them all by the Word of his Power This is the Person that comes to Save us Even He †Phil. 2.6 7. who subsisted in the Form or Nature of God and therefore thought it no Robbery but his inviolable Right to be Equal with God makes himself of no Reputation but takes upon him the Form or Nature of a Servant and is made in the Likeness of Men. Deus Humanâ visit sab imagine terras God himself I say even the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity and whose Name is Great Wonderful and Holy the Lord Jehovah with whom is Everlasting Strength in very deed bows the Heavens and comes down to dwell among Men. Well then might the officious Host of Heaven the Quires of Angels who long desir'd to see the Mystery of this Day usher in the Birth of this great Prince with Songs and Allelujahs Well might one of them cloath'd with the Brightness and Similitude of a Star call the Levantine Princes the great and Learned Magi as Emblems of his Future Conquests over the Princes and Learned Sages of the Heathen World to do him Obeisance and others wing'd with Joy and Triumph carry these glad Tidings to the humble Shepherds and send them likewise as the First-fruits of his own People to pay their Homage to their Lord. For had the heavenly Host been silent the Lowest Class of Beings the very senseless and inanimate Parts of impatient Nature had questionless found a Voice to have told us That unto us a Son was born unto us a Child was given whose Government is upon his Shoulders and whose Goings forth from Everlasting But now how miserable and wretched was our Captivity which the Arm of Omnipotence only could lead captive How thick and dismal the Darkness we were in which the irresistable Rays of the Sun of Righteousness only could disperse and scatter How weighty and insupportable that Wrath which nothing could appease but the adequate Condescensions of an Infinite Love Where were all those spotless Beauties of the Upper World Those kind compassionate Spirits who seem to make it a great Part of their Heaven to relieve us here below Where all those bright Squadrons of exalted Seraphims whose Names are renown'd and glorious for their transcendent Love in the Habitations of Men here as well as in the Mansions of Glory Could not these unstain'd pure and undefiled Images of our heavenly Father These faultless innocent and unblameable Beings who continually surround his Throne with Anthems of Praise intercede for and reconcile the offended Deity to Sinful Man No we were such heinous Offenders that nothing less than God himself could satisfie for our Faults These Blessed Spirits could only in strains of Sorrow lament our Fall and with a Pity and Concern commensurate to the passible Nature of such happy Beings expect the Final determination of Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Justice I know many Learned Men both Ancient and Modern are of Opinion That God might have pardon'd the Sins of Mankind without any Satisfaction made to his Justice Solo nutu jussu voluntate merely by the unexceptionable Prerogative of his Soveraign Will and Power and that 't was only to shew his great Concern for the Honour of his Laws and his everlasting Hatred and Detestation of Sin that he humbled his own Son to become a propitiation for it Far be it from me to intrench upon the Divine Omnipotence or impiously to say to his Goodness what himself does to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come but no farther and here shall thy Operations be staid Yet I think we may venture to affirm that these Excellent Persons seem to be so enamour'd with the Beauty of that lovely Attribute his Mercy that they have hardly vouchsaf'd to cast so much as one glance upon his Justice Mercy I acknowledge is his Favourite his darling Excellence the very Flower and Beauty as I may so say of his Nature in which his Soul takes most Delight and Complacency And this consider'd alone might have remitted the whole Debt without any payment at all or at least have accepted the Satisfaction of an Angel But then I consider on the other hand that Justice is as Essential to him as Mercy and that as the one is infinite so is the other too Now Justice you know demands the whole Debt should be discharg'd and the Sinner not releas'd till he has one way or other paid the uttermost Farthing But which I pray of all the Angels is sufficient for these things or where shall we find amongst those Finite tho' glorious Beings a Saviour able to satisfie Infinite Justice for the Sins of the whole World The Blessed Jesus look'd and saw there was none to help and wonder'd there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to him and his Righteousness it sustain'd him What I say none of all Created Beings none of the heavenly Powers those Magisterial and Master-pieces of his Creation could Undertake the Son of God himself humbly descends from his Throne of Glory even down to his Foot-stool to perform and accomplish Welcome then thrice welcome Blessed Jesu into thine own World Welcome to the unhappy Dwellings of forlorn and helpless Man May the sense of thine infinite Love enlarge thy Dominions and cause all People Nations and Languages to rise up and call thee Blessed May all Nations whom thou hast made come and worship thee and glorifie thy Name For thou art Great and dost wonderous things thou art God alone Now then my Brethren let us not so ill requite this stupendous Condescension of the Son of God as to debase him as some impious and ungrateful Wretches do beneath the Condition he humbled himself unto Let us not I say for his infinite Love cast Dirt in his Face or because he vouchsaf'd to assume the Infirmities of Humane Nature despoil him as much as we can of the Glory and Majesty of the Divine Though his Beauty was benighted under a Cloud there was Form and Comeliness enough in him that we should desire him The unconverted * Joseph de Antiq. Jud. l. 18. c. 4. Jew himself will tell us that his Divinity like the Sun shining through a Cloud gave such Illustration and Testimony to all his Actions that 't was hardly lawful to call him a Man And now he has run his Race and finished his Course the Cloud is remov'd and the Mists all scatter'd before the prevailing Sun The Incarnate God shines forth in his full Glory and Triumph yea he is now altogether lovely 'T is the highest Repast of Angels and the peculiar Entertainment of
ready to here and assist us But I answer 1. That this Opinion of Abraham and Israel's being in Limbo only and not in Heaven it self before the Resurrection of our Lord is groundless and unwarrantable Elias we are sure was translated into Heaven and we know likewise that Moses came down with him from that place to commune with our Lord upon the Mount But if these his Sons were thought worthy before the Resurrection of our Lord to be admitted into those blissful Mansions why Abraham the Father of the Faithful and the Peculiar Friend of God Why Isaac and Israel and the other Patriarchs and Prophets who were all Heirs of the same most holy Faith should be excluded I know not But supposing this Opinion was really as true as they would have it and that we could not deny what you see we have all the Reason in the World to deny but that the Saints before the Resurrection of our Lord lay only in Limbo but are now in Heaven yet that being there they have a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion is I answer in the 2. Place a most unphilosophical false and impious Assertion that has no Foundation in Scripture Reason or Antiquity 1. It has no Foundation in Scripture Now to pray after any other manner than what Christ himself hath taught us is not only Ignorance but Sin says * De Orat. Domin pag. 139. Ed. Oxon. St. Cyprian But what one place is there I ask in all his Scriptures that demands this of us which of all his Apostles Evangelists or Prophets doth allow that any of the Saints departed should be invok'd by us Bannes a Learned Dominican ingenuously confesseth that he knows not of any His Words are as express and full as can be Orationes ad Sanctos faciendas nequè etià m expressè nequè involute Scripturae docent i. e. that 't is our Duty to Pray to the Saints the Scriptures do neither explicitely nor implicitely inform us And those of his own Profession have never yet been able to shew that he is in an Errour 2. This Assertion has no Foundation in Reason For if the Saints in Heaven have a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion then this Knowledge of theirs is owing either 1. To their own Ubiquitary Presence by vertue of which they see and hear all our Words and Actions as some of our Adversaries affirm Or 2. As others with the like Boldness To their Perspicacity and Clear-sightedness whereby they are able to discern our very Thoughts and Intentions Or 3. To the constant and faithful Relations of daily-ascending Saints and Angels as a Third more modestly Or 4. As most To the Vision of the Divine Essence which they call Speculum Trinitatis But all these ways are ridiculous and absurd and some of them impious For 1. The Saints in Heaven have not a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion because they are every where present and so see and hear all our Words and Actions Heaven indeed is God's Throne and the Earth is his Foot-stool The Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him but he fills all Places both in Heaven and Earth and the imaginary Space too beyond the Limits of Both he is a God near at hand to us all to those that abide in the Continent and that remain in the broad Sea and also that live afar off in the Ends of all the Earth In a word tho' he cannot be circumscrib'd or included in any Place yet by his Immensity he is so every where present as not to be excluded out of any so that we may all of us at one and the same time pour out our Prayers before him with full Assurance of being heard But now 't is quite otherwise with all Created Beings Creation necessarily implies Limitation so that 't is as great a Contradiction to say That the Essence or Virtue of a Created Being can be Boundless or Infinite as that a Self-Existent Independent Being can be Finite Every Abstracted Spirit therefore since Created tho' rais'd to the utmost degree of its Perfection is but Finite and consequently as that great Patriarch of the Roman Schools * Sum. Part. prim Quaest 52. Art 2. Aquinas himself confesseth non se extendit ad omnia sed ad aliquid unum determinatum tho' it may as it pleaseth be sometimes in a greater sometimes in a lesser place yet it is so far from being able to extend it self to all places that 't is always necessarily and unavoidably but in one Non est ubique nec in pluribus locis sed in uno loco tantùm as he speaks again in the same Paragraph Great then only is the Lord and greatly to be praised because there is no End of his Greatness 2. The Saints in Heaven have not a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion from their Perspicacity or Clear-sightedness whereby they are able to discern our very Thought and Intentions This is plain from the Argument immediately foregoing For since according to the Laws of Creation the Saints are all limited and circumscrib'd in their Essences and Perfections it must necessarily be granted that they are likewise limited and circumscrib'd in their Science or Knowledge it being impossible for any Being but such as is Immense and fills all Places to know the different Concerns of all the several Beings residing and acting in those different Places God then alone since it appears that he only is Omnipresent must be acknowledg'd to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Searcher of the Hearts In him indeed do our Souls and Bodies live move and have their Beings He understands our Constitution knows whereof we are made the Composition as I may so say of our very Essences and therefore discerns all the Motions and Operations of our Souls In short 'T is his Prerogative alone to be about our Paths and about our Beds in our Hearts and in our Spirits and consequently to spy out all our Ways Whence it likewise appears in the 3. Place That the Saints in Heaven have not a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and